This invention relates to toys and, more particularly, to a trap door mechanism for use in toys.
Over the years, a variety of toys have been designed which recreate popular adventure scenes in miniature. Such scenes are typically adapted from popular novels and motion pictures. The most exciting of these adventure scenes include some element of suspense or surprise. For example, secret compartments and trap doors have been employed in adventure stories to provide an element of surprise.
Due to the complexities of designing and constructing devices such as secret compartments and trap doors, many toys which portray adventure scenes do not include these devices. Consequently, such toys are lacking in excitement; and children become bored with their use in a short period of time.
Those toys which do employ devices such as trap doors usually do so in a manner which negates the element of surprise. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,373,367, issued Apr. 10, 1945, to C. E. Wilson and U.S. Pat. No. 765,170, issued July 19, 1904, to J. J. Duffie each shows the use of a trap door in a device designed to simulate a gallows. The element of surprise is lacking in these devices in part because both the trap door and the mechanism for operating it are in plain view of the observer.
It is, consequently, an object of this invention to provide a new and improved toy trap door mechanism.
It is another object of this invention to provide a toy trap door mechanism the operation of which provides a strong element of surprise to the observer.
It is another object of this invention to provide a toy trap door mechanism which is inexpensive to manufacture.